Important Announcements

Nondiscrimination Policy Update

Boston Medical Center Health System complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin (including limited English proficiency and primary language), religion, culture, physical or mental disabilities, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity and/or expression. BMCHS provides free aids and services to people with disabilities and free language services to people whose primary language is not English.

To read our full Nondiscrimination Statement, click here.

Pulmonary and Allergy Clinic staff have taken part in numerous local and national research studies concerning current questions in asthma and allergy. Specifically, Suzanne Steinbach and Lois Doerr worked on the NIH-sponsored Inner-City Asthma Study project which showed that home allergen control reduces asthma symptoms for inner-city children and that better communication between physicians and families about asthma symptoms improves asthma control as well. Related publications include:

1. Cohen RT, Rodeghier M, Kirkham FJ, Rosen CL, Kirkby J, DeBaun MR, Strunk RC. Exhaled Nitric Oxice: Not Associated with Asthma, Symptoms, or Spirometry in Sickle Cell Anemia. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016, in press.

2. Vo P, Bair-Merritt M, Camargo CA, Eisenberg S, Long W. Individual factors, neighborhood social context, and asthma at age 5 years. J Asthma 2016 in press.

3. Boyer D, Thomson C, Cohen R, Rao D, Dell S, Rayment J, Wang R, Dy FJ, Wambach J, Tam-Williams J, Simon D, Price E, Oermann CM, Singh A, Rettig JS, Duncan ED, Baker CD, Liptzin DR, Moore PE. ATS Core Curriculum 2016: Part III. Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 13 (6): 955-966, 2016.

4. Cohen RT, Strunk RC, Rodegheir M, Rosen CL, Kirkham FJ, Kirkby J, DeBaun MR. Pattern of lung function is not associated with prior or future morbidity in children with sickle cell anemia. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 2016, Aug; 13(8):1314-23. PMID: 27300316.

5. Cohen RT, Klings EK, Strunk RC. Sickle cell disease: wheeze or asthma? Asthma in Research and Practice, 1:15, 2015.

6. Teach SJ, Gill MA, Togias A, Sorkness CA, Arbes SJ Jr, Calatroni A, Wildfire JJ, Gergen PJ, Cohen RT, Pongracic JA, Kercsmar CM, Khurana Hershey GK, Gruchalla RS, Liu AH, Zoratti EM, Kattan M, Grindle KA, Gern JE, Busse WW, Szefler SJ. Preseasonal treatment with either omalizumab or an inhaled corticosteroid boost to prevent fall asthma exacerbations. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015 Dec;136(6):1476-85.PMID 26518090, PMCID 4679705.

7. Vo P, Bair-Merritt M, Camargo CA. The potential role of vitamin D in the link between obesity and asthma severity/control in children. Expert Rev Respir Med 9 (3): 309-25, 2015.

8. Sheares BJ, Mellins RB, Dimango E, Serebrisky D, Zhang Y, Bye MR, Dovey ME, Nachman S, Hutchinson V, Evans D. Do patients of subspecialist physicians benefit from written asthma action plans? Am J Resp Crit Care Med 2015, 191 (12): 1374-73, PMIC 25867075.

9. Hayden LP, Hobbs BD, Cohen RT, Wise RA, Checkley W, Crapo JD, Hersch CP. Childhood pneumonia increases risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the COPDGene study. Respiratory Research, 16 (1): 115, 2015. PMID 26392057, PMCID 4578796.

10. Belfort MB, Cohen RT, Rhein LM, McCormick, MC. Preterm infant growth and asthma at age 8 years. Archives of Disease in Childhood, Fetal and Neonatal Edition, 101 (3) F230-4, 2015. PMID 26354369.

11. Rice JL, Matlack KM, Simmons MD, Steinfeld J, Laws MA, Dovey ME, Cohen RT. LEAP: A randomized-controlled trial of a lay-educator inpatient asthma education program. Patient Education and Counseling, pii: S0738-3991(15)30006-9, 2015. PMID 26210342.

12. He H, Butz A, Keet CA, Minkovitz CS, Hong X, Caruso DM, Pearson C, Cohen RT, Wills-Karp M, Zuckerman BS, Hughes ME, Wang X. Preterm birth with childhood asthma: the role of degree of prematurity and asthma definitions. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 192 (4): 520-523, 2015. PMID 26278798, PMCID 4595670.

13. Vance LD, Rodeghier M, Cohen RT, Rosen CL, Kirkham FJ, Strunk RC, DeBaun MR. Increased risk of severe vaso-occlusive episodes after initial acute chest syndrome in children with sickle cell anemia less than 4 years old: Sleep and asthma cohort. American Journal of Hematology, 90 (5): 37-1375, 2015. PMID 25619382, PMCID 4409481.

14. DeBaun MR, Rodegheir M, Cohen RT, Kirkham FJ, Rosen CL, Roberts I, Cooper B, Stocks J, Wilkey O, Insa, BD, Warner JO, Strunk RC. Factors Predicting Future ACS Episodes in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia. American Journal of Hematology, 89 (1): e212-217, 2014. PMID 25088663, PMCID 4866602.

15. Strunk RC, Cohen RT, Cooper BP, Rodeghier M, Kirkham FJ, Warner JO, Stocks J, Kirkby J, Roberts I, Rosen CL, Craven EI, DeBaun MR. Wheezing symptoms and parental asthma are associated with a doctor diagnosis of asthma in children with sickle cell anemia. Journal of Pediatrics 164(4): 821-826, 2014. PMID 24388323, PMCID 3962704.

16. Cohen RT, Strunk RC, Field JF, Rosen CL, Kirkham FJ, Redline S, Stocks J, Rodeghier MJ, DeBaun, MR. Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Airway Obstruction in Children with Sickle Cell Disease. Chest, 144 (4): 1323-9, 2013. PMID 23681054, PMCID 3787918.